National News

KVIA (EL PASO, Texas) -- When a car careened toward a mother and students outside a Texas elementary school, she put herself in front of the children before being struck and killed, according to the school district.Kharisma James and three students were struck by a driver who had apparently hit the accelerator instead of the brake by accident in the parking lot of Tippin Elementary School Monday afternoon, according to the El Paso Independent School District.As the car headed forward, James stepped in front of the three children and took the brunt of the hit, witnesses reported, according to school...

Joe Raedle/Getty Images (TAMPA, Fla.) -- The Governor of Florida issued a state of emergency in response to this year’s excessive red tide, the toxic algae bloom spreading across the West Coast of the Sunshine State and leaving beaches covered with piles of dead marine wildlife."I am issuing an emergency declaration to provide significant funding and resources to the communities experiencing red tide so we can combat its terrible impacts," said Governor Rick Scott in a statement on Monday.The executive order issued by Scott will make additional biologists and scientists available to assist with clean-up and animal rescue efforts.Two hours...

ABC (NEW YORK) -- It has been a rainy summer in the Northeast and the entire East Coast with more flash flooding possible Tuesday.There was more flash flooding Monday as Jonestown, Pennsylvania, received 7.7 inches of rain , while the area around Brick, New Jersey, received 7.83 inches. The same areas saw flooding over the weekend.A storm system and stationary front will continue to slowly meander into the Northeast through Tuesday and produce more rain. Flash flood watches continue to be in place for New York and Pennsylvania because of the threat.With daytime heating, showers and thunderstorms will fire up...

Spencer Police (PAXTON, Mass.) -- A former Worcester County, Massachusetts, prosecutor died suddenly after a crowbar crashed through his windshield Monday.John Madaio was driving his SUV in the town of Spencer when a crowbar that was kicked-up or fell from another car crashed through the windshield, the Spencer Police Department said. Madaio, 63, was struck in the head.His car veered off the road, hit a curb and an empty car in a parking lot before it went over an embankment and came to a stop, police said.First responders broke the passenger window to reach him, police said. He was taken...

WJRT (MILLINGTON), Mich.) -- Police in Michigan say four girls managed to fight off a man who assaulted them over the weekend by throwing hot coffee on him.The girls, ages 11 to 14, were leaving a gas station convenience store in Millington, Michigan, last week when a man grabbed one of the girls by the hair and attempted to kidnap her, according to police.Officers with the Millington Police Department said the suspect, identified as 22-year-old Bruce Hipkins, followed the girls last Friday night and eventually grabbed one them “around the head and told her she was coming with him.”“The other...

Taos County Sheriffs Office (AMALIA, N.M.) -- A New Mexico judge agreed on Monday to release on bond five suspects who were arrested on child abuse charges and were alleged to have been training the children to carry out school shootings. The decision to release the suspects came against the wishes of the sheriff's department and FBI.The suspects -- two men and three women -- were arrested last week at a makeshift compound in Amalia, New Mexico, where authorities rescued 11 emaciated children living in filthy conditions with very little food and no clean water, according to police.Judge Sarah Backus...

Mario Tama/Getty Images (UKIAH, Calif) -- The largest fire in California history turned deadly on Monday as a firefighter tending the blaze was killed.There were few details on how the firefighter died in the Mendocino Complex Fire, northeast of Ukiah, California. The fire is burning near the Mendocino National Forest, about 140 miles northwest of Sacramento."The Mendocino Complex Unified Incident Commanders from CAL FIRE, and the United States Forest Service are deeply saddened to report the death of a firefighter on the Mendocino Complex," CAL FIRE sad in a statement. "Fact finding on the accident is ongoing and notification of...

iStock/Thinkstock (PAYSON, Utah) -- Just hours after being arrested and released on bail for allegedly assaulting his wife, a Utah man stole a plane and crashed it into his own home where his wife was staying, police said.The man, 47-year-old Duane Youd, did not survive the crash Monday, officials stated.Flames engulfed the house in the city of Payson after the crash and ensuing fire at 2:30 a.m.Youd's wife as well as a boy were inside the house at the time of the crash. They were lucky they escaped and the plane did not hit other buildings or any power lines,...

ABCNews.com (CLEARWATER, Fla.) -- The Florida man who invoked the "stand your ground" self-defense law after shooting a black man in a dispute over a parking space was charged Monday with manslaughter, officials said.Michael Drejka, 48, was arrested Monday morning in the fatal July shooting of Markeis McGlockton in Clearwater, Florida -- an incident that was caught on video which sparked an uproar after its release.The announcement that Drejka was charged with manslaughter provided McGlockton's family with some comfort even as they continue to mourn.McGlockton's mother, Monica Moore, said at a news conference that she has been in a "daze"...

Sacramento Police Department (SACRAMENTO) -- The suspected "Golden State Killer" is now facing charges for his 13th alleged murder, and the earliest one yet -- the killing of a college professor in central California in 1975.Joseph DeAngelo, a 72-year-old former police officer, was arrested this April and charged with 12 killings, following decades in which California law enforcement officers were stumped by what became known as the "Golden State Killer" case.DeAngelo is now accused of shooting to death Claude Snelling while allegedly trying to kidnap Snelling's daughter from the professor's Visalia home on Sept. 11, 1975, Visalia Police Chief Jason...

WFAA (DENTON, Texas) -- The parents of a 10-year-old boy with autism in Denton, Texas, say they are planning to take legal action after they received a video that showed their son being repeatedly held to the ground by his neck and handcuffed by a school resource officer.In the events captured by the officer's body camera -- the footage was shared with ABC News and parts of which were corroborated with police reports -- the child, Thomas, appears to try to isolate himself in a cubbyhole when he saw a teacher moving toward him.Eric Coulston, a Denton Police Department school...

KOMO via ABCNews.com (FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash.) -- Grieving Orca whale who hold on to her dead calf for more than 2 weeks, has let go of the dead body of her offspring.The 30-year-old southern resident killer whale who was spotted pushing the corpse of its short-lived offspring since 24 July, 30 minutes after it gave birth to her baby at least until 17 days later, has finally let go of her dead calf, according to researcher.On the afternoon of August 11, the orca whale, J35, also known as Tahlequah vigorously chased a school of salmon with her pod-mates in mid-Haro...